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Editor in Chief Adviser
Joan Malloch Jeff Jeske
Associate Editor Karen Rowan
News (vail Kasun
Perspectives Ashley Clifton
Features Cristina Haworth
Sports Kiley Holder
Will Cooper
Photography Ben Cadbury
Elaine Brigham
Business, Advertising Brian Burton
Personnel Brian Sugioka
Subscriptions/Circulations Reagan Hopkins
Speak your mind
Ashley Clifton
Perspectives Editor
Flipping through the last
pages of summer enjoyment
raiding, 1 came to these words:
"It makes me angry. It makes me
want to write," And I pondered
what makes me want to write.
Reading of both the cultural
wealth and plights of the people
it discussed, the article itself
made me want to write. It oc
curred to me then that in iny
lackadaisical eves of summer, I
failed to record the thoughts
which ususally move me to
write.
As I thought of my own neglect,
my nerves began to shake a
little. As Perspectives editor of
the upcoming year, will 1 be
moved enough, get angry
enough to write the sort of ar
ticles in which other Guilford
college students will take inter
est? Will I discuss important is
sues ami problems, and will 1
offer a forum for real improve
ment and informing ideas? That
is, after all, my job now.
I also wondered if people will
actually write for me. What if,
this year, everyone returned to
Guilford content with the world
- either ignorant or uncaring of
the problems bound to arise in
any institution of higher learn
ing. Or, even worse, what if ev
ery problem was cleared up over
the summer?
Needless to say, J was reassured
upon returning to Guilford that
there are plenty of bugs, gripes
and raised eyebrows on this
campus to relieve my anxiety.
"Hey," ! reminded
'This is Guiiford.'
There's something about wing
ing a lot of people with vastly
different views and opinions
from many different places and
packing them into a single in
stitution that usually results in
debate, or at least creates a
fortmiforit.
In fact, when a friend of mine
apphed to Guilford, he posed a
Ashley Clifton
question to the interviewer:
"I know Guilford has a reputa
tion for being a liberal campus,
but are there conservative
people here as well to provide a
healthy balance?"
in consideration of that ques
tion, I'm not sure an exact bal
ance exists, but I do know that
opposing opinions can be found
on almost any issue at GuiifiorcL
Thai variety in thought is one
reason I came to Guilford -—to
learn, to be pushed to think, to
consider different viewpoints
other than my own.
My job as Perspectives editor is
to do for the readers of The
Guiifordian what Guilford
does for me. Thai is to give
readers and writers the oppor
tunity to present fresh ideas,
opinions, or perspectives, as
weli as the opportunity to agree
or disagree with the opinions of
others presented in this sec tion.
At the very least, readers will
have the opportunity to consider
alternative viewpoints, whether
they choose to respond to them
or not.
The decision to open up i?
close oneself off from the issues
and ideas presented m The
Guiifordian this year is ulti
mately left up to the reader.
However, this iv my message
tor this issue and tor this yean
speak your mind, tell us the stuff
we should know, and be your
own critic while offering your
story. To each his own.
Itatfpecttoe*
Opinions expressed in editorials and letters to the
editor do not necessarily reflect the views of the staff
and editorial board. The editors reserve the right to
edit all submissions for length, style, and taste.
The Guilfordian encourages submissions. Typed
articles and letters are due by 6:00 pm Monday. For
more information on The Guilfordian write:
P.O. Box 17717
Guilford College,
Greensboro, NC 27410.
Rogers welcomes students
Photo by Ehttne Brighaw
Charlotte Straney
Special to The Guilfordian
Qualities of intellect, human val
ues, and the enjoyment of life
these are the three main themes
Bill Rogers explored as he ad
dressed all incoming students on
August 20 at the opening convo
cation. This year, for the first time,
the convocation included not only
first-year students entering directly
out of high school and transfers,
but also new continuing education
students.
After welcoming the new mem
bers of the Guilford community
and sharing with them a sense of
the college's 156-year history,
Rogers highlighted some of the
intellectual and social values he
felt important to this place.
"First, we hope you will come
to enjoy the serious and fulfilling
qualities of the life of the mind.
Even beyond the specific content
of the courses and extracurricular
experiences at the college, we
know you will come to value the
excitement of ideas and to experi
ence the skill in using ideas as we
address the pressing social, politi
cal and economic problems as
leaders in an interdependent world.
Those qualities of mind include
critical and analytic thinking, the
capacity for constructive and cre
ative integration of ideas and
meaningful solutions of problems,
and the development of conscience
in addressing the moral dilemmas
that we will face.
College is not just about ana
lyzing ideas and taking arguments
apart but also constructing them.
It is also about building a life and
a world that is worthy of our fin
est effort. It is not just the accu
mulation of knowledge and the
skill in gathering appropriate in
formation, but it is about using
knowledge in a wise way for the
well-being of humankind. Inert
ideas and facts are never enough
what is called for is focused
discernment in the wise use of rich
and complex ideas, tested through
A very special thanks to our return
ing staff member, Josh Palmer, for
all his help on this issue.
To all of our readers, we invite you
to appear in this box by contributing
to the creation of The Guilfordian.
' IP
wmiZZ .. . ,5.
#/// Rogers
the thought and research disci
plines of our various fields and
applied in ways that are both just
and productive.
"Guilford invites you to deepen
your understanding of values
both personal and social. Values
are also undergirded by philo
sophical and religious conviction
about the highest good. Some of
these value issues will be experi
enced within the next days and
weeks of our life together. They are
directly related to our sense of
what is most important.
For instance, you undoubtedly
are valuing a new sense of free
dom freedom from family, from
past traditions, from dependence
on others who set priorities and
time tables for your life. But in cel
ebrating freedom and indepen
dence, it is important not to slip
into what psychologists call
"counterdependence" simply
the unconsciously driven tendency
to do just the opposite of what we
may have been told was right or
good in the past in order to defi
antly assert our freedom.
Freedom involves the sorting
and choosing in which we may
sometimes cast aside perspectives
that were shallow and inappropri
ate but other times reaffirm in our
own terms the importance of
things that were held before us in
the past as worthy of our devotion.
This is a time of valuing thanks
giving, of thanking parents and
friends and of saying goodbyes
but also a time of valuing new
SuauSt 27, 1903
friendships and new intimacy, of
saying hello and of discovering the
lifelong wonder of meaningful
friendships.
It is a time when we can enjoy
the values of patience in working
on details, sometimes simply slog
ging through with the effort that
must be undertaken to achieve our
ends, and at the same time the
value of a readiness for greatness
—a readiness that sees the broad
vision of our human community
and human history and sees ways
in which our own part may be in
spired by new ideas and new op
portunity.
We will learn the value of re
specting the integrity of our own
deepest identity as well as the
value of respecting others in the
integrity of their diversity, learn
ing values from them that expand
our world. It will be a time of
knowing the value of self-fulfiil
ment and, at the same time, the
value of a generosity of spirit
which reaches out to others with
compassion, kindness and genuine
caring.
"Third, I know that this will be
a place where you have fun.
Guilford is not marked by the hu
morless intensity of some selective
colleges, but rather it is a place
where we balance hard work and
play, serious deliberation and sheer
exuberance. Guilford is a place we
know you will come to enjoy im
mensely while at the same time
cherishing it as a center for learn
ing in the development of lifelong
skills.
Photo by Ben Cadbury